Prenatal application of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for identification of a mosaic Y-chromosome marker,IDIC(Yp)

An amniocentesis was performed at 13.3 weeks' gestation for advanced maternal age. A mosaic sex chromosome pattern was found: of 50 cells examined, 34 had a 45,X karyotype. In 14 cells with a modal number of 46, a recognizable Y was substituted by a small non-fluorescent marker. C-banding identified the marker as an isodicentric in 12 cells. In two cells, the non-fluorescent marker appeared to be monocentric and looked like a non-fluorescent del (Yq), but could have been an isodicentric Y with inactivation of one of the centromeres. Two cells with a modal number of 47 showed two copies of the monocentric marker. Fluorescent in situ hybridization with an alpha satellite Y-specific centromeric probe confirmed the Y-chromosome origin of the markers and allowed for more accurate prenatal diagnostic information.     

Adaptive-filtering of trisomy 21: risk of Down syndrome depends on family size and age of previous child

The neonatal incidence rate of Down syndrome (DS) is well-known to accelerate strongly with maternal age. This non-linearity renders mere accumulation of defects at recombination during prolonged first meiotic prophase implausible as an explanation for DS rate increase with maternal age, but might be anticipated from chromosomal drive (CD) for trisomy 21. Alternatively, as there is selection against genetically disadvantaged embryos, the screening system that eliminates embryos with trisomy 21 might decay with maternal age. In this paper, we provide the first evidence for relaxed filtering stringency (RFS) to represent an adaptive maternal response that could explain accelerating DS rates with maternal age. Using historical data, we show that the proportion of aberrant live births decrease with increased family size in older mothers, that inter-birth intervals are longer before affected neonates than before normal ones, and that primiparae exhibit elevated levels of DS incidence at higher age. These findings are predicted by adaptive RFS but cannot be explained by the currently available alternative non-adaptive hypotheses, including CD. The identification of the relaxation control mechanism and therapeutic restoration of a stringent screen may have considerable medical implications.     

环境监测实验室空气中汞污染与防治

采用冷原子吸收法,使用便携式测汞仪对实验室空气中汞的浓度进行测定,监测结果表明,环境监测实验室空气中汞的污染较为严重,主要来源于COD、氨氮、大气中氨及汞样品测定时含汞试剂及汞标液的使用和含汞废液的排放。根据对监测结果的评价和分析提出了相应的防治措施,提醒实验室的管理及分析人员,要增强环境保护意识,加强实验室的管理,减少含汞及其它有毒废液的排放,改善实验室的环境空气质量,保护分析人员的身体健康。     

复杂气井套管力学分析与可靠度评价

为建立考虑地层和套管参数随机性的套管可靠度评价理论方法,以便得到复杂井况下套管传统设计安全系数与可靠指标之间的关系,提出了非均匀地应力和内压联合作用下,沿套管最大外挤力方向管壁任意位置发生屈服失效时外壁等效均匀外挤力的计算方法;建立了套管抗挤和抗内压三轴强度计算公式以及有效内压计算方法;根据套管载荷和强度影响因素统计参数以及评价过程中参数测试标准值,利用蒙特卡洛法（MC）建立了完整的套管可靠度计算和评价方法;通过实例对传统安全系数与可靠指标的对应关系进行了研究。研究结果表明:指定条件下,套管安全系数与可靠指标之间存在对应关系;利用建立的方法编制计算程序可以为传统设计法中安全系数代表的安全程度进行量化;可靠度评价方法能够为安全系数的选取提供指导。     

Optimizing mixture properties of biodiesel production using genetic algorithm-based evolutionary support vector machine

Nowadays, biodiesel is used as one of the alternative renewable energy due to the increasing energy demand. However, optimum production of biodiesel still requires a huge number of expensive and time-consuming laboratory tests. To address the problem, this research develops a novel Genetic Algorithm-based Evolutionary Support Vector Machine (GA-ESIM). The GA-ESIM is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tool that combines K-means Chaotic Genetic Algorithm (KCGA) and Evolutionary Support Vector Machine Inference Model (ESIM). The ESIM is utilized as a supervised learning technique to establish a highly accurate prediction model between the input--output of biodiesel mixture properties; and the KCGA is used to perform the simulation to obtain the optimum mixture properties based on the prediction model. A real biodiesel experimental data is provided to validate the GA-ESIM performance. Our simulation results demonstrate that the GA-ESIM establishes a prediction model with better accuracy than other AI-based tool and thus obtains the mixture properties with the biodiesel yield of 99.9%, higher than the best experimental data record, 97.4%.     

垃圾填埋场室内模拟试验注水量确定方法及其应用

针对填埋场室内模拟试验往往忽略降雨径流和初损的问题,提出运用SCS模型确定室内模拟试验日注水量的方法,并将计算结果应用于成都长安填埋场室内模拟试验中.结果表明,采用SCS模型计算所得的日入渗量进行注水的模拟柱渗滤液产量和水质变化能够更准确的模拟填埋场实际情况.     

Applying the zoo model to conservation of threatened exceptional plant species

Maintaining a living plant collection is the most common method of ex situ conservation for plant species that cannot be seed banked (i.e., exceptional species). Viability of living collections, and their value for future conservation efforts, can be limited without coordinated efforts to track and manage individuals across institutions. Using a pedigree-focused approach, the zoological community has established an inter-institutional infrastructure to support long-term viability of captive animal populations. We assessed the ability of this coordinated metacollection infrastructure to support the conservation of 4 plant species curated in living collections at multiple botanic gardens around the world. Limitations in current practices include the inability to compile, share, and analyze plant collections data at the individual level, as well as difficulty in tracking original provenance of ex situ material. The coordinated metacollection framework used by zoos can be adopted by the botanical community to improve conservation outcomes by minimizing the loss of genetic diversity in collections. We suggest actions to improve ex situ conservation of exceptional plant species, including developing a central database to aggregate data and track unique individuals of priority threatened species among institutions and adapting a pedigree-based population management tool that incorporates life-history aspects unique to plants. If approached collaboratively across regional, national, and global scales, these actions could transform ex situ conservation of threatened plant species.     

Influence of environmental factors on the response of a natural population of Daphnia magna (Crustacea: Cladocera) to spinosad and Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis in Mediterranean coastal wetlands

The present study was undertaken to assess the impact of a candidate mosquito larvicide, spinosad (8, 17 and 33 μg L⁻¹) on a field population of Daphnia magna under natural variations of water temperature and salinity, using Bti (0.16 and 0.50 μL L⁻¹) as the reference larvicide. Microcosms (125 L) were placed in a shallow temporary marsh where D. magna was naturally present. The peak of salinity observed during the 21-day observation period may have been partly responsible for the decrease of daphnid population density in all the microcosms. It is also probably responsible for the absence of recovery in the microcosms treated with spinosad which caused a sharp decrease of D. magna abundance within the first two days following treatment whereas Bti had no effect. These results suggest that it may be difficult for a field population of daphnids to cope simultaneously with natural (water salinity and temperature) and anthropogenic (larvicides) stressors.     

Bioanalytical characterisation of multiple endocrine- and dioxin-like activities in sediments from reference and impacted small rivers

A comprehensive evaluation of organic contamination was performed in sediments sampled in two reference and three impacted small streams where endocrine disruptive (ED) effects in fish have been evidenced. The approach combined quantitative chemical analyses of more than 50 ED chemicals (EDCs) and a battery of in vitro bioassays allowing the quantification of receptor-mediated activities, namely estrogen (ER), androgen (AR), dioxin (AhR) and pregnane X (PXR) receptors. At the most impacted sites, chemical analyses showed the presence of natural estrogens, organochlorine pesticides, parabens, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (16 PAHs), bisphenol A and alkylphenols, while synthetic steroids, myco-estrogens and phyto-estrogens were not detected. Determination of toxic-equivalent amounts showed that 28-96% of estrogenic activities in bioassays (0.2-6.3 ng/g 17β-estradiol equivalents) were explained by 17β-estradiol and estrone. PAHs were major contributors (20-60%) to the total dioxin-like activities. Interestingly, high PXR and (anti)AR activities were detected; however, the targeted analysed compounds could not explain the measured biological activities. This study highlighted the presence of multiple organic EDCs in French river sediments subjected to mixed diffuse pollution, and argues for the need to further identify AR and PXR active compounds in the aquatic environment.     

Phytotoxicity of atrazine, isoproturon, and diuron to submersed macrophytes in outdoor mesocosms

The submersed macrophytes Elodea canadensis, Myriophyllum spicatum and Potamogeton lucens were constantly exposed over a five-week period to environmentally relevant concentrations of atrazine, isoproturon, diuron, and their mixture in outdoor mesocosms. Effects were evaluated investigating photosynthetic efficiency (PE) of the three macrophytes and growth of M. spicatum and E. canadensis. Adverse effects on PE were observed on days 2 and 5 after application. M. spicatum was found to be the more sensitive macrophyte. E. canadensis and P. lucens were less sensitive to atrazine, diuron and the mixture and insensitive to isoproturon. PE of M. spicatum was similarly affected by the single herbicides and the mixture demonstrating concentration addition. Growth of E. canadensis and M. spicatum was not reduced indicating that herbicide exposure did not impair plant development. Although PE measurements turned out to be a sensitive method to monitor PSII herbicides, plant growth remains the more relevant ecological endpoint in risk assessment.